Saint Helena:

Feast day : 18 August

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine of Rome. She is most popularly known for the discovery of the True Cross of Christ. Though she converted to Christianity late in life, her zeal for Christ was incomparable. She was abundantly blessed with several virtues and quickly advanced in Christian perfection. She undertook the journey to the Holy Land and discovered several relics of Christ including the nails and ropes used at the Crucifixion, the Holy Tunic and the most popular discovery being the True Cross. She discovered the sites of the important events in the life of Jesus and built churches on the sites of the Nativity, the Ascension of the Lord and the site where Moses spoke to the burning bush. These are today the most popular pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land.

Early life:

Saint Helena is believed to have given birth to Emperor Constantine around the year 272 AD. Following his birth, Constantius divorced her and married Theodora, the daughter of Maximian. Helena and her son were sent away to the court of Diocletian at Nicomedia where she raised her son who greatly loved and respected her. After Constantine became the emperor, he had a miraculous victory in the battle with Maxentius through the intervention of God. Following the battle, it is believed that he converted to Christianity alongwith his mother. From that time onward he greatly favoured the Christian faith, built stately churches and adorned the altars with precious metals. He contributed generously to the poor and needy. He also declared his mother Helena as Augusta or Empress and had medals struck in her honor with the name Flavia Julia Helena. He gave her complete control over the treasury of the empire.

Christian life:

Though Saint Helena’s conversion to the Christian faith was late in life, her zeal for Christ was incomparable. She was blessed abundantly with virtues and grew in Christian perfection within a short time. She, like her son, assisted the churches and worked amongst the common people in modest plain attire often forgetting that she was the empress. She used her unlimited control over the treasury of the empire to liberally donate to the poor and help build churches. During the period 326-328, she undertook her journey to the Holy Land to discover relics of the Catholic faith. She walked through all the paths that Jesus walked during His life on earth and discovered several relics. She built the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem at the site of the Nativity and the Church of Eloena on Mount Olives which is the site of the Ascension of the Lord. She also built churches at the site where Moses is believed to have spoken to the burning bush.

However, her most famous discovery was that of the True Cross of Christ. During her search for the tomb where Jesus was laid to rest, she discovered a pagan temple that was built on the site. She had the pagan temple torn down and beneath discovered the tomb and three crosses alongwith the sign board from Pontius Pilot proclaiming “This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”. Now, out of the three crosses, she had to identify the real True Cross. So she called for a woman who was very ill and had her touch the three crosses. When she touched the third cross which was the True Cross, she was healed instantly! Saint Helena built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the site of the tomb.

Till her return to Rome, she continued to search for relics and eventually found the nails used at the Crucifixion, the Holy Tunic that Jesus wore, even pieces of ropes that had been used to tie Him to the Cross. It is believed that she had one of the nails placed in Constantine’s helmet and another in the bridle of his horse as a protection. The Holy Tunic is believed to have been sent to Trier. The precious relics of the ropes are held at the Stavrovouni Monastery in Cyprus which was founded by her.

When she left Jerusalem and returned to Rome, she took with her large parts of the True Cross and other relics which were kept in her private chapel. She died peacefully in Rome in the year 330 with her son at her side.